The Ghana Employers’ Association (GEA) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Ghana have called for urgent and targeted policy actions to boost productivity, job creation, and inclusive economic growth.
The two bodies, representing workers and employers, said Ghana’s economic transformation has been too slow and uneven, citing recent findings from the Ghana Statistical Service and the International Labour Organization’s Productivity Ecosystems for Decent Work Project.
They stressed that bold, coordinated action is needed to unlock the country’s productivity potential.
They emphasized that exchange rate volatility, unstable prices, and credit constraints are undermining enterprise competitiveness and job security.
Both groups urged the government to put macroeconomic stability at the heart of its growth agenda. “We therefore call for a coordinated macroeconomic policy framework that supports domestic production and expands access to capital,” they noted.
The partners also highlighted the urgent need to shift Ghana’s economic base from low-employment extractive industries to productive sectors such as manufacturing, agro-processing, health, education, utilities, transport, and digital services.
They proposed tailored sectoral action plans supported by public-private collaboration, targeted financing, industrial clusters, and infrastructure investment.
At the enterprise level, they called for productivity audits, innovation adoption, and support programs to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) transform and remain competitive.
On wages, GEA and TUC stressed that fair pay must reflect actual productivity growth while maintaining business sustainability. They advocated for a national wage-productivity adjustment model to integrate sector-specific data into wage negotiations and minimum wage reviews.
“Special efforts must be made to address the existing gender gap,” they said, adding that performance-based pay systems should be promoted in both public and private sectors to reward efficiency, innovation, and output.
The joint call also touched on Ghana’s youth unemployment challenge, urging reforms in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
The groups proposed workplace-based learning, industry-driven curricula, expanded national apprenticeship schemes, and stronger labour market intermediation services to support career guidance and job matching.
With over 80% of Ghana’s workforce in the informal economy, they argued that inclusive growth cannot be achieved without reforms.
Both organizations endorsed the National Roadmap for transitioning informal businesses and workers into the formal sector to improve resilience and productivity.
Reaffirming their role as social partners, TUC and GEA called for stronger dialogue platforms and better access to timely productivity data.
They urged the Ghana Statistical Service to regularly release disaggregated productivity statistics to guide collective bargaining, wage setting, and investment planning.
